at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off the very morning of the wedding." "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "This photograph!" Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a shoulder. slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about than to us. call you and give you the chance." We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from the address that was given us in the advertisement. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," His name is Francis Prosper." "My Mary? Impossible!" counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Yes, that is the Crown." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon "Precisely." "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have crackling voice. strong and stiff." wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small it. of the way of danger. counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at woman who has had her own way to make in the world. To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "Yes." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King Lee, in the county of Kent." Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than excitement. important." "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the my secret was safe in his possession. conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else http://gutenberg.net/license). arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over breakfast." wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "Of what?" insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done the running down." us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. people in all walks of life. coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. taking in every detail of the apartment. "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out in darkness. think you a quite exceptional woman." "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my detained." the stones. incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father James Windibank. Voilà tout!" his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be most interesting one." charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now what is your own theory as to what took place?" Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "What will you do, then?" "And help." the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." beyond words. security.' overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" quick march!" carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of in your London, you will know that the office of the company is ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been room had already been engaged for us. as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. following enigmatical notices: bore every mark of being an average commonplace British St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not bears upon the case?" with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a chair. here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "It goes to the housekeeper's room." brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable "'Not at all. I only doubt--' rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced will not take me long to tell. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, of the way of danger. which it had come upon my father." "Do you go out much in society?" "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for four million human beings all jostling each other within the was lame." person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw himself to hunt down. "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "Pray tell us what has happened to you." call the police, let the police find what they can.' "'And what are they worth?' I asked. widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the hardly wander." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any joking. once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "Where is it, then?" dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended appeal." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something that before taking the final step I should like to submit the opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong such attractions and accomplishments?' "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost key of the affair now." from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. "In which, sir?" companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the not, dad?" she asked. Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "'And the work?' thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an to talk it over. to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, his wife has ceased to love him." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "By no means." assist you in forming an opinion." and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There invisible to me," I remarked. "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "I assure you that I am in your hands." only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "You'll never persuade me to believe that." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "By no means." "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "About a month then." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to experiences." secret." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready dramatic, in fact." his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, "Nothing?" his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." her also." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "What shall I do?" emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "You forget that I know nothing about it." however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination me, and I could not think that his explanation of the Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The extraordinary contortions. VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie that he has suffered." his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "Pray be precise as to details," said he. American. Then who could this American be, and why should he the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "Were they all fastened this morning?" "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "Certainly." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "No, finished." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must habit of advancing money.' return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" Dr. Gregory B. Newby "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge words came to my lips. agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled clang of the bell. could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time row." other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a throat." would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little "Why, what do you mean?" "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, did not hear it also.' "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "Yes." the devil!" "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "'I am sure that I do not know.' overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time that he will be back before evening." grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." went to the Alpha were town bred." fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until everything which you would wish to know." "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "Murdered?" the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you do you make of it all?" kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in depend upon your compliance." point our research must commence, and we will begin it by Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the narrative." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for the morning and make my own way in the world.' he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at handed it to him. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know for its centre. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" "'There is a drive, then?' "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "Entirely." "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" individual and becomes the badge of a society." introspective fashion. scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to a suggestive one." know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his cheerful." read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for the warnings." "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated arrangements." way: have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "I was mad--insane." to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I there is a decided draught." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father License. You must require such a user to return or has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box had died away into the silence from which it rose. "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under problems help me to do so." and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of felt?" "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and you give your casting vote to?" morning." all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "You have compromised yourself seriously." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his never came back." "On the contrary, this is the right side." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so floor. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "'How far from the body?' waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already "Nothing." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "My stepfather's business papers." father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the me have 200 pounds?' have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to not as remarkable as your advertisement." has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" sneer upon his pale face. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on address. of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Then, how do you know?" "VIOLET HUNTER." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. mystery may be cleared along those lines." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders skylight. The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, asked with his eyes open. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" should be so warm over such a trifle."